A Poker Life -- David Diaz

There’s no doubt that it took a little luck for David Diaz to come out on top of event no. 12, the $1,500 no-limit hold’em tournament at the World Series of Poker, but any help he received from the poker gods pales in comparison to the proverbial one outer he got as a child after he survived cancer.

By all accounts, Diaz shouldn’t be alive. Growing up in his native Honduras with virtually no funds and limited access to medical facilities, cancer may as well have been a death sentence. Fortunately for him and his family, Diaz was admitted to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee and two decades later, is now completely cancer free.

The 26-year-old has had to suffer through a lot of hardships in his life, but he’s since managed to overcome and persevere, creating new opportunities for himself through the game of poker. This is his story.

A Fortunate Accident

Diaz was born into an immediate family of six and needless to say, money was tight. “I can’t remember much about my childhood, but from what I’ve been told, it wasn’t the easiest life,” said Diaz.

“When I was about five years old, my siblings, some neighborhood kids and I were playing around in the mountains near our home,” remembered Diaz. “I wound up falling down on my arm, causing it to swell up really badly. Some time passed, but the swelling wouldn’t go down. We visited some doctors in the area, but all they could come up with was a cast, which didn’t help at all.”

With no solution in their native Honduras, Diaz’s parents contacted relatives in New Jersey, who assisted the family in getting to the States. From there, Diaz was fortunate enough to be accepted by the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis founded by the late actor Danny Thomas.

“It was there that they discovered that I had cancer,” he said. “After some more tests, they amputated my arm and started about a year of chemotherapy. I spent the years afterwards at numerous check ups making sure that I was completely cancer free. At the time, it was painful and I wanted nothing more than the swelling to go down, but looking back, that fall probably saved my life. Had I not fallen, they may never had discovered the cancer and I might not be here today.”

Poker Beginnings

After treatment, Diaz’s family made a more permanent transition to life in Memphis, but just because they were now in the States didn’t mean that life was going to get any easier.

“It was still hard,” Diaz recalled. “My mother worked two jobs, cleaning houses during the day and at FedEx at night. My father was still in Honduras, so we were living pretty much paycheck to paycheck.”

Diaz was introduced to poker by a buddy, but spent much of his adolescence shooting pool in local bars. “I won’t say that I was the best player around, but I will say that I was really good at picking the right competition,” he said. “Maybe that helped me out once I made the switch to poker. It was during the time when I was shooting pool that I realized that your skill level only matters relative to the others you play. I guess that’s good game selection.”

Gambling, whether it was with billiards or poker, was always something that appealed to Diaz and he had no problem betting on himself. After a series of menial jobs working at McDonalds, a movie theater and an oil change place, Diaz was ready to take up poker at the professional level.

“I’ve been a professional since the day I turned 21 years old. I’ve worked terrible jobs before and hated every second of it. I didn’t always agree with those who were put in charge, which is why poker has always appealed to me. I’m my own boss now.”

The Daily Grind Turns into Tournament Success

Diaz has since made the move to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and has cleaned up in the new and improved cash game scene. When he’s not hitting up the regional tournaments or spending his summers in Las Vegas, he’s grinding the side games at one of the largest poker rooms in South Florida at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood.

Though he suddenly finds himself not living paycheck to paycheck, Diaz hasn’t forgotten his childhood or just how tough it used to be. “I can’t help but have the greatest appreciation for what my mother did. Feeding us and keeping the rent paid was hard enough without us constantly asking for new shoes or whatever. I think that’s why I have a much greater respect for money than most of my peers in poker. I’m not exactly a bankroll nit, since I’ve been known to take my fair share of shots, but I fully understand the value of a dollar.”

Diaz now has just shy of $800,000 in live tournament earnings on his resume, including 19 final table appearances in under three years on the circuit. In 2010, he final tabled his first WSOP event, finishing sixth in a $1,500 six-handed no-limit hold’em tournament. His most recent score totaled $352,808 for winning the $1,500 no-limit hold’em event at the WSOP, where he overcame a final table that included notables such as Nick Rampone, Bill Chen and eventual runner-up Anders Meli.

Even though his family was back in New Jersey visiting his aunt, he was happy that they were able to see him break through for the bracelet on the live stream. “They were following along with the updates, cheering me on the whole way. When I finally won, I got a bunch of texts from them congratulating me. That support feels just as good as the title and the money I won.”

When asked for his tournament philosophy, Diaz kept it simple. “I take each tournament one hand at a time. You can visualize yourself holding up the bracelet all you want, but it takes a great deal of focus to put it all together. Make the right decision on each and every street and more often than not you’ll find yourself making a deep run.”

Moving Forward

Though he’s not sure he wants to play professionally forever, Diaz is more than content with where he is now in his career. He’s comfortable with his daily routine and plans to keep at it for the foreseeable future. More importantly, he’s happy that he even had the opportunity to make something of his life.

“I’m very grateful for everything they did for me at the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital,” said Diaz. “Not everybody is given a second chance at life and I’m not going to waste mine.”